BIRDS THAT KEEP ORDER 137 



singly ; in America, where the ospreys are 

 often quite common and numerous, instead 

 of being scarce solitary birds as they are in 

 Europe, they will combine against the robber 

 eagle and drive him altogether out of the 

 neighbourhood. And the pirate skua gull does 

 not always have it all his own way with the 

 other gulls ; though he will rob the big herring- 

 gull, which is so much larger than himself, 

 the common gull, which is a much smaller 

 bird than the herring-gull, though bigger than 

 the skua, will get his friends to come to his 

 aid, and turn the tables on the pirate for a 

 change. 



And when the birds of daylight find out 

 an owl, whom they all hate as a midnight 

 murderer, they will all join forces against him, 

 no matter how unfriendly they may be to each 

 other at other times. Even in the bird world 

 might is not always right ; and the brave and 

 active birds, or those which have the sense 

 and the pluck to combine against every one's 

 enemy, can exercise some control over almost 

 any of the tyrants of the air. 



18 



